Scarborough explains Israel remarks

Joe Scarborough says he was a bit surprised by the intensity of the response to his criticism of Israel on Thursday morning but is still an “unambiguously strong” supporter of the Jewish state.

“I remain as unambiguously strong a supporter of Israel as I always have been,” the MSNBC host said in an interview.

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The former Republican congressman from Florida said he didn’t plan ahead of time his remarks at the top of “Morning Joe” blasting some of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and calling them “asinine.”

“I didn’t think that this would spur discussion but it certainly has,” he said, adding that most of the feedback he has received has been “positive and understanding.”

On “Morning Joe,” Scarborough spoke out against Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza. “This continued killing of women and children in a way that appears to be indiscriminate is asinine,” he said on the show, adding that the mounting Palestinian death toll was not only “tragic,” but harmful for Israel and the U.S. He also said the U.S. should disassociate itself from Israel’s actions if they continue.

More than 1,300 Palestinians, most of whom are reported to be civilians, have died since the conflict began earlier this month, according to The Associated Press.

In the interview later Thursday, Scarborough, a contributor at POLITICO, said his concern about Palestinian civilian deaths has “been building for some time.” With each such death, he said, “Israel not only weakens their standing across the world, they strengthen the standing of Hamas inside Palestinian territories.”

“Far from taking an antagonistic approach towards Israel,” he continued, “I am most concerned about Israel’s long-term security. And Israel does not become more secure by increasing attacks that continue to kill women and children.”

He warned, as he did earlier Thursday, that Israel’s response could radicalize Palestinian citizens and mobilize a group more extreme than Hamas.

“I think that what we’re seeing on television sets in the summer of 2014 could very well lead to an increased radicalization of Palestinians and could replace Hamas with a group every bit as radicalized and extreme as ISIS,” he said, a reference to the alternative name for the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant, the militant group that has swept across much of central and northern Iraq.

But Scarborough said that he has long been a supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that he wouldn’t individually blame anyone “who lives in a situation where hundreds of rockets rain down on their country,” a reference to Hamas’ own rocket attacks. Scarborough also mentioned several speeches he has given to the pro-Israel group AIPAC in which he has expressed strong support for Netanyahu and Israel.